


Insufficient Data

by ipreferaviators



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Character Study, Friendship, Gen, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-15
Updated: 2012-01-15
Packaged: 2017-10-29 14:49:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/321029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ipreferaviators/pseuds/ipreferaviators
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sherlock knows what people think about him and John, obviously.</p>
<p>ETA: Now with a companion piece from John's perspective! <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/334438">Something Incredible</a>. Both stand alone, but are intended as parallels.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Insufficient Data

Sherlock knows what people think about him and John, obviously. As a general rule, he knows what most people think about most things. But where he and John are concerned, the general public's thoughts are incomplete. It would be impossible for those who cannot understand Sherlock to understand his interactions with someone else. Yes, John is Sherlock's friend. John is his flat mate. John makes tea, tidies far too much, distracts Sherlock with his obsession about regular meals, and assists Sherlock on cases. He also fills a role in Sherlock's daily life which Sherlock did not previously know was vacant, and which Sherlock is continually expending effort to fully understand. And if Sherlock does not understand it, certainly no one else does, either.

Sherlock also knows what John thinks of him, and those thoughts are also incomplete. John thinks of Sherlock as a high-functioning sociopath (and honestly, John is a doctor, and moderately intelligent, and he should know perfectly well that Sherlock's self-awareness of his own aberrant tendencies is far too developed for a true sociopath. Also, Sherlock had been joking) with no heart (also untrue, despite his best efforts to reach that end), excellent deductive skills, a general sense of boredom and frustration with humanity, and an ego problem. While correct on most counts, John persists in maintaining his critical misperceptions. Their relationship is significantly limited by this, and it grates on Sherlock on occasion.

Sherlock is nothing if not brilliant, and he knows that John's incomplete understanding of Sherlock is related to his own incomplete understanding of his relationship with John. What Sherlock has not yet determined is--to put it simply--which comes first, the chicken or the egg? It is possible that if John were to correct his understanding of Sherlock, Sherlock would then find himself able to define John's new role in his life and work. However, it is also possible that John's understanding of Sherlock is merely a reaction to Sherlock's atypical confusion.

Sherlock works this dilemma over in his mind often: while taking tea with John, while playing the violin, while pursuing suspects throughout London. On one notable occasion, he employed five nicotine patches to help him focus on the matter. To date, his efforts have not been successful. Sherlock's certain, however, that he will succeed in the end. He always does.


End file.
